Tropical storm Debby has “inundated” the coastal states of Georgia and South Carolina, and is expected to bring more rainfall in the coming days, Reuters reports. According to the newswire, the governors of both states have declared states of emergency and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says that “Debby is expected to produce potentially historic rainfall totals of 10 to 20 inches (25 cm and 51 cm), with maximum amounts of 25 inches (63.5 cm), bringing areas of catastrophic flooding across portions of the eastern half of South Carolina, and southeast North Carolina through Friday”. Reuters continues: “Debby made landfall as a category 1 hurricane in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday morning, dumping 8 to 16 inches (20 to 41 cm) of rain in parts of central Florida, according to local reports. The storm has been blamed for five deaths in Florida and one near Valdosta, Georgia.” The newswire quotes the mayor of Valdosta, who said the city could expect a “once-in-a-thousand-year” rain event which could “literally create islands in the city”. The New York Times reports that Charleston – one of the cities likely to be hit – is particularly vulnerable to flooding because it is bowl-shaped and has poor drainage. It adds: “Forecasters believe Debby will rival or break rainfall records in Georgia (set by Alberto in 1994 with 27.85 inches) and South Carolina (set by Florence in 2018 with 23.63 inches) for the most rain that has ever fallen in each state.” The Independent reports that thousands of flights have been disrupted. ABC News reports that the affected parts of North and South Carolina “have already seen two billion-dollar floods in eight years”. 

The Independent reports that the storm slowed over South Carolina on Tuesday. NPR reports that the storm is “creeping over land with winds that would never make headlines”, but says that the slow speed is “adding to the devastating impacts of its heavy rains”. The New York Times reports that the storm only reached category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, indicating that its wind speed was not high enough for it to be considered a “major hurricane”. It notes that “the main reason for Debby’s extreme precipitation is simply how slowly it is crawling across the Southeast”, which it says is due to “large systems of atmospheric currents that are steering the storm”. Forbes outlines three reasons that Debby is producing so much rain – including the “extremely warm water” in the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic. The New York Times and Daily Mail report that the hurricane swept blocks of cocaine worth about $1m onto a beach in Florida. The Independent, the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, CBS News, the Times and BBC News also cover the storm.

In other US news, Reuters reports that a wildfire in southern California “burned several homes and forced evacuations before it was brought under control on Tuesday”. The newswire says the fire began on Monday and burned some 40 hectares of land before it was contained. It adds: “Warmer than usual temperatures and abundant vegetation after a wet winter and spring have led to ideal burning conditions in the most populous US state. Climate change has led to more severe and longer heatwaves, according to experts.” And the Associated Press reports that “elected officials and union leaders in Baltimore are calling for safer and more humane working conditions for the city’s public works employees after a man collapsed and died from heatstroke last week while collecting trash during hot summer weather”.

There is widespread media coverage that the presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has announced governor Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate. The New York Times says that over two terms in office, Walz has “quietly emerged as one of the nation’s most forceful advocates for tackling climate change”. It continues: “Most notably, in 2023, Walz signed a law requiring Minnesota to get all of its electricity from wind, solar and other carbon-free sources by 2040, eliminating the climate-warming pollution generated by coal and gas-fired power plants. That law came in the midst of a legislative session in which Minnesota Democrats, working with Governor Walz, pushed through nearly 40 other climate initiatives, including tax rebates for electric vehicles, and expanded access to EV charging stations. In June, he signed a law to streamline the permitting of renewable electricity projects…More than half of states require utilities to switch to clean electricity but only a handful mandate that the transition occur at the rapid pace set by Minnesota. Under that law, Minnesota would transition to clean electricity sources even faster than California, which has long been at the vanguard of state climate action. The Minnesota law is also more ambitious than a similar standard that President Biden tried, but failed, to include in his 2022 climate law. Activists see it as a model for future climate legislation – at the state or national level.” The paper adds that if elected, Walz would “bring the most substantive record on climate of any incoming president or vice president since vice president Al Gore”. Separately, the New York Times says that Walz has “been praised for his plain-spoken, often upbeat communication style that could break through with moderate swing state voters”. It adds: “Walz’s communication style seems to emphasise the need for politicians to explain both the benefits and the specifics of climate policy to voters.” E&E News reports that Harris’ announcement is “delighting climate change activists”. However, the outlet notes that the announcement on Harris’ presidential campaign website did not mention Walz’s climate action in Minnesota. Inside Climate News quotes Stevie O’Hanlon, communications director for the Sunrise Movement, who “believes Walz will also help to ‘energise’ certain voting blocs that had become disillusioned with Biden, including young progressives and people of colour”. Grist calls Walz the “climate vice president”. However, Bloomberg reports that “Mike McKenna, a former White House energy adviser and longtime GOP energy strategist, argued that Walz’s track record of favouring renewables would put him out of step with voters who prefer an all-of-the-above strategy on energy, particularly in swing states”.

In other US news, the Associated Press says: “The Department of Energy on Tuesday announced $2.2bn in funding for eight projects across 18 states to strengthen the electrical grid against increasing extreme weather, advance the transition to cleaner electricity and meet a growing demand for power. The money will help build more than 600 miles of new transmission lines and upgrade about 400 miles of existing lines so that they can carry more current.” Separately, the newswire reports that the Small Business Administration – which works with lenders to offer loans to small businesses – is “looking to attract lenders to finance small businesses’ clean energy projects”. 

The death toll from landslides in Wayanad in India’s western state of Kerala “surpassed 400 on Wednesday, with over 150 people still missing” and “310 hectares of agricultural land destroyed”, the Times of India reports. According to a longread in the Wire examining the reasons behind the devastation and why “climate change is not the sole culprit”, the state received a “red alert” from meteorological authorities “right after the tragedy struck”. While “Kerala reels” from the disaster, News Minute reports that India’s environment ministry is “urgently searching for scientists and researchers to write articles on how the Kerala government’s poor policies regarding quarrying have led to the landslide”. The Hindu reports that India’s climate minister Bhupender Yadav “triggered another centre-state row” by faulting the Kerala government for “laying the ground for the natural disaster by abetting illegal mining and habitation in the ecologically fragile district”. 

The New Indian Express reports that Yadav’s ministry has issued a fresh order allowing infrastructure projects to extract up to 20,000 cubic metres of soil without environmental clearance, a move environmentalists say could turn “once stable areas into vulnerable zones”. Yadav claims that the country had seen a “1540 sq km” increase in its forest cover, the Hindustan Times reports, and he would continue to push amendments to a key forest conservation act because “so many developmental projects were getting affected”. An Article 14 investigation says that Narendra Modi’s government “ended critical weather-advisory services [this year] without accounting for their benefits” to millions of farmers facing the “accelerating pace of climate change and a worsening farm crisis”.

Over 10,200 people in India have lost their lives to hydro-meteorological disasters over the past five years, the government told parliament on Monday, reports News18. It says that while the country’s national disaster authority still “does not maintain any centralised data on loss of life and property due to ‘extreme weather’ events”, data compiled from states indicates “that on an average, 2,000 people have died in [these] disasters every year since 2019-20”. Thomson Reuters Foundation quotes public health expert Prof Dileep Malvankar describing the lack of accurate heat mortality data in India as a “public health failure” and calling for “heat officers to every city to record daily deaths from crematoriums and cemeteries and publish them with comparative data.”

The market for carbon offsets is facing “upheaval” after a “key oversight body” stated that renewable energy credits will not be eligible to carry the “core carbon principles” (CCP) label, Bloomberg reports. According to the outlet, the move affects 236m credits, or 32% of the market. It continues: “For years, climate experts have warned that renewable energy credits are largely worthless. That’s because in most countries, renewables already represent a competitive alternative to fossil fuels, meaning any additional revenue from carbon credits is unlikely to steer decisions on whether to build or expand green energy capacity. Instead, extra income has tended to go to developers. Renewable energy credits have proved popular among corporates. In 2022, they made up about half of all offset purchases, rising from 38% a year earlier, according to a study by Bloomberg.” Reuters reports that the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) said that eight renewable power methodologies failed to meet its additionality requirements, which measures “whether the project needed revenue from carbon credits sales to go ahead”. The newswire says that “if the project would have gone ahead regardless, then the argument that it has led emissions to be avoided, and should therefore be credited, is undermined”. BusinessGreen reports that millions of carbon credits approved by groups including Verra and Gold Standard will not meet the benchmark. It adds: “Launched by the ICVCM last year, the CCP is an industry quality label developed to help buyers of carbon credits recognise and put a price on high-integrity credits regardless of which organisation issued the credit, what type of credit it is, or where it is generated.” The outlet notes that the ICVCM also granted approval for several other methodologies to use the CCP label. It says: “These include a methodology for projects that detect and repair methane leaks in the gas industry, which covers an estimated 19m tonnes of unretired carbon credits – or 2.6% of the overall market – as well as one for projects that capture methane from landfill gas.”

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a Virgin Atlantic ad, saying it made “misleading” claims about sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), the Financial Times reports. The advert highlighted the transatlantic flight in November that was powered entirely by SAFs, according to the newspaper. It continues: “Virgin Atlantic ran a radio ad celebrating its ‘unique flight mission…to become the world’s first commercial airline to fly transatlantic on 100% sustainable aviation fuel’. But the ASA said the phrase ‘100% sustainable aviation fuel’ gave listeners ‘a misleading impression of the fuel’s environmental impact’, by implying that the fuel was both zero carbon emissions and had no negative environmental effects.” This is the first time that the regulator has banned an advert because of claims around SAFs, the FT says. It calls the move “a blow to an aviation industry that is relying on the development of the fuels to meet its promises to hit net-zero emissions by 2050”. It continues: “While SAFs, which are often derived from waste products, crops or fats, emit much less carbon over their life cycle than fossil fuels, they are not emission free. The UK government says the use of SAFs can reduce emissions by up to 70% compared with the kerosene-type used in most commercial flights.” The Press Association says: “Virgin Atlantic said they had previously been announced as the winner of a competition run by the Department for Transport (DfT) to ‘support industry to achieve the first net-zero transatlantic flight on an aircraft using 100% sustainable aviation fuel within one year’. The airline said the ad’s wording mirrored the terms used by the DfT in its competition invitation.” The Daily Telegraph and Sky News also cover the story.

In other UK news, the Daily Telegraph reports that executives from the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) have “warned of blackouts before the end of the decade unless the South East pays more for power than other regions”. According to the newspaper, the ESO is “campaigning” for zonal pricing, where “power suppliers can be paid more in the South East than elsewhere if demand is higher”. However, the paper quotes an ESO spokesperson saying that “ESO’s analysis does not show there will be blackouts because of current market arrangements”. Elsewhere, BBC News reports that Northern Ireland and Ireland are forecast to miss their 2030 renewable energy target by at least two years. DeSmog reports that two-thirds of voters in Clacton – the constituency of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage – are “concerned about the effects of rising temperatures”, according to a recent poll. Reuters has published a factcheck explaining that “gas prices in Britain have not been forecast to increase by 77% from October 2024, contrary to claims on social media”. And Bloomberg reports that “Europe’s wildfire risks are extending as far north as the UK after a recent spell of hot weather”.

Beijing has released an “action plan” to build a “new electricity system” from 2024-2027 to “pursue green development and ensure energy security”, reports state news agency Xinhua. The plan “outlines steps to be taken in nine areas”, including the transmission of “clean electricity through the grid”, coal-fired power plants upgrades, “new energy” vehicle (NEV) charging infrastructure expansion and power distribution networks, the outlet adds. Reuters says the move aims to “ramp up renewables and ease the strain of rising power demand on the national grid” which will help China “meet its goal of reaching a peak in carbon emissions before 2030”. Economic news outlet Jiemian says one of the priorities in the plan is to improve electricity transmission for renewable energy. 

Meanwhile, Industry news outlet BJX News reports that the National Energy Administration has issued a notice on the reform of “safety management” in the coal-fired power sector. Communist Party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily quotes Chen Jing, a deputy director at the NEA, saying the trade in “green electricity certificates (GECs)” – a trading scheme for electricity generated by non-fossil fuels in China – has become more active.

Elsewhere, Bloomberg reports that Chinese battery manufacturers are “challenged” this year by “overcapacity, weakening demand and falling prices”. Nikkei Asia reports that in the first six months of 2024, the “five biggest automakers” in Europe have experienced “falling profits” because of “weak demand for electric vehicles, cost competition from China and ballooning research and development costs”. The Italian government and a Chinese auto manufacturer, Dongfeng, are closing in on a deal to “build an auto plant in Italy”, Reuters reports. Another Bloomberg report says the UK’s foreign secretary David Lammy is “considering making a visit to China, according to people familiar with the matter”.

An editorial by Bloomberg comments on trade tensions over clean energy technologies: “The new protectionist consensus over Chinese EVs threatens an escalating cycle of retaliation and counter-retaliation.” The editorial says of US and EU tariffs on Chinese EVs: “[B]oth sets of EV tariffs are ill-conceived for other reasons. Fighting climate change should be an overriding priority, and faster adoption of cheap EVs would help.” It continues by saying that “the more heavily China is willing to subsidise the [NEV] technology, the better for the planet, as well as for consumers and taxpayers in the US and EU”, adding that “the key” to ensuring those trade frictions “get no worse” is “negotiation”.

Daniela Ceccarelli, David Wachenfeld and Mike Emslie – researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science – outline the findings of the latest Australian Institute of Marine Science coral cover report in the Conversation. They write that large areas of the Great Barrier Reef had a reprieve from coral bleaching between 2018-22, allowing coral in some areas to regrow. They continue: “Over the 2023–24 summer, the heat returned with a vengeance, triggering widespread coral bleaching. But bleached coral isn’t dead yet – it’s very stressed. The summer’s bleaching is only just winding up now, in August. We won’t know how much coral actually died until we complete our next round of surveys. We’ll be back in the water from September to find out.”

Permafrost can be found beneath the seabed in waters beyond those currently indicated in maps, according to a new study. Using high-resolution data, the researchers find sections of subsea permafrost along the coast of Labrador, a region in eastern Canada. Current maps – which “rely heavily on model results” – indicate that this permafrost is only found closer to the Arctic Ocean, the researchers write. The new data “reveal the presence of subsea thermokarst environments on the coastal seabed of Nain, Nunatsiavut” in eastern Canada. The researchers say this suggests that subsea permafrost is “likely to be preserved elsewhere in subarctic regions”, meaning there could be an “underestimation of subsea permafrost in the world’s coastal oceans”.